The Instant "Queue" Difference

Since I've been back in EQ2, I've been surprised to find myself running group content on an almost nightly basis.  EQ2 dungeons can be lengthy, and I really struggled to ever complete any group quests on the old, underpopulated Lucan D'Lere server.  On my newly merged home of Crushbone, however, I'm finding groups nearly instantly, and that's apparently enough to convert me into a primarily group player overnight. 

Lord Bob would prefer if I go back to soloing stuff, since he's pretty sure that I can't solo him.

EQ2's Dirge class plays pretty much exactly like a typical DPS, but it's actually a buff-based class.  My personal DPS would not be great even if I was as experienced and well-geared as my PUG peers, but I offer substantial buffs to the team just for being present.  How significant?  It's not uncommon to see groups that ALREADY HAVE A TANK AND HEALER advertise that they're LF1M Dirge.  I've posted that I'm LFG for a specific instance and been immediately invited to a group. 

As a matter of game design, this is probably not a good thing, and I'm sure it would irritate me to no end if I were playing any other class.  As the recipient of the free instance invites, I'm glad that more people haven't figured out how all you're really giving up is your spot on the damage parse in exchange for non-existent "queue" times (not that EQ2 has a dungeon group finder queue, but even WoW's queue doesn't do much better than having groups advertise that they're LF1M: you). 

More to the point, I'm pugging instances and enjoying it.  I've done five PUG's of level 90 content in the last two weeks, four of which were successful and the last of which broke up at the last boss primarily because a bugged door caused a member of the group to be stuck outside the instance.  A few years back, I would have told you that solo content was an absolute requirement for me to play a game, but dungeon finders and public rift groups and instant Dirge queues are telling me differently.  I don't dislike groups, I just dislike spending time that I would like to spend playing the game on LOOKING for groups. 

Lessons From A EQ2 Harvesting Donkey-Bot

The new EQ2 expansion added another chapter to the famous "Gathering Obsession" questline, in which players are tasked with harvesting large quantities of everything that isn't nailed down for a kid named Qho Augren.  The reward is your very own, developer-sanctioned harvesting bot. 

The new chapter
I'm told that once upon a time, the Gathering Obsession line could only be started at max crafting level, and was at least partially designed to get players to harvest some of the less desirable resources just to get them out of the world.  I could see how this might get irritating.  Fortunately, the modern version of the quest can be worked on as you level, advancing harvest skills that you already want anyway.  (Ironically, I now intentionally don't harvest bushes and dens after I complete my quest updates, to leave them for people who need them for the quest.)

The new update has the kid sending the player an in-game mail asking for a harvest pass through the content from last expansion.  This is much easier than the mid-level versions, because modern zones are designed with specific types of harvestables concentrated in specific subzones.  When you finish the mining updates, you leave the mountains and head to the forest, where there are fewer rocks.  So, despite the high numbers (50 of each resource, with 2-4 resources from each type of node), the harvesting portion of the quest goes by quickly.  

I snagged two rare harvests while I was out gathering, one of which I crafted into an upgrade for one of my key buffs.  The rest is an amusing sight-seeing tour, that ends with the player receiving one of the Augren family pack mules.  The mule, like a previous guild hall amenity, can be tasked to harvest for you in any zone from 1-90 every two hours. 

Two design points
There are two things that I take away from this exercise.  The first is the somewhat odd quirk that EQ2 harvesting is in a place where it is perfectly acceptable to task it out to an NPC.  The real money is in rare harvests, which the NPC's do not find (or perhaps keep for themselves ;)), so apparently it's just assumed that the basic materials for leveling and quest recipes are going to fall into your lap.  Most of the current tier materials aren't even found on Velious with the new expansion content.  It's an interesting case study in NPC-automation, as, for example, SWTOR plans to task out the actual crafting to NPC companions. 

The other thing is that a seemingly odd task - getting players to clear out unwanted harvesting nodes (rather than, say, not having the bush of berries no one needs share a spawn with the node of ore that everyone does) - becomes more entertaining when you do weave a story that comes back to the player level after level.  MMO's have always had significant NPC's, but it feels like there is a growing recognition that relationships with NPC's matter.  Qho - the somewhat notorious kid that people alternately tolerate or love to hate - literally makes the new chapter of the quest, which would have been pretty pointless (gather some stuff from zones you've outleveled, run around, pay some money for a final reward). 

As an added bonus, now I don't need to loot my guild harvest box for low level materials if/when I go back to do some of the new low-mid level tradeskill quests.  :)

True to her word, Lyriana proceeded to take Qho to the Forgotten Pools to introduce him to Lord Bob, an experience that sent the kid crying back to his mom across two zones and an ocean.  Lyriana claims that she knew nothing bad would happen to him, and points out that she did indulge his remaining requests afterwards.

Attack Of The Dice

EQ2 is one of few games that has an in-game excuse for April Foolery - Bristlebane, the god of mischief and thievery comes out to play for a world event that includes killing 10 rats (multiple times), chests shaped like the Companion Cube from Portal scattered throughout the world, and the opportunity to win various Dungeons and Dragons Dice in honor of the late Gary Gygax. 

The holiday was actually one of my first serious experiences with the game back in 2009, and it's gone through only relatively minor tweaks.  Every year seems to add another quest or two - this time out, it was two additional types of dice and a literally rainbow colored horse.  It's random, light entertainment, but it's fun.  Sometimes that kind of laid back activity is a good change of pace for an achiever-oriented genre. 

Church Insurer Becomes Target of Angry Wisconsin Union Teachers

This picture was taken in a teacher's lounge inside a high school in Wausau, WI.  It identifies Wisconsin companies the unions accuse of supporting Gov. Scott Walker (h/t Gateway Pundit):

I used to work for one of those companies - Church Mutual, based in Merrill, WI.  I don't remember them being particularly political, but I never really saw their political activities in Wisconsin.

Given how few of the most activist union teachers actually attend church, I doubt it will be much of a threat to their business.